Brian Fraga

After more than three hours of spirited discussion Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court appeared poised to uphold state laws that ban transgender girls and women from participating in female school and college sports.

Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, met Jan. 12 with President Trump, Vice President Vance and other administration officials at the White House.

The organization run by Missionary Sr. Norma Pimentel has previously attracted scrutiny from conservatives who have accused agencies of promoting illegal immigration. 

St. Susanna Church's "politically divisive display" goes against the Catholic Church's canonical norms on the use of sacred objects, according to a spokesperson from the archdiocese.

"Rather than dealing with the particular financial and contractual issues at play, they're just sort of going for the jugular," said Christopher Denny, president of the university's faculty association.

A judge is set to rule on a proposal submitted by the Trump administration that would make the estimated 90,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients in Texas ineligible for work permits under the program.

U.S. bishops approved a "special pastoral message on immigration" that expresses the collective solidarity of the U.S. bishops' conference with immigrants amid the Trump administration's aggressive enforcement tactics.

The U.S. Catholic bishops on Nov. 11 elected Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley as the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the conference's annual fall plenary assembly.

The USCCB will meet this week in Baltimore to discuss evolving immigration issues, revised ethical directives for Catholic health care facilities and hold an election that "will have consequences beyond the U.S. church."

"We can try to help our leaders understand that these people should not be pawns on their political chessboard," said Deacon Kevin Sartorius. "That's not fair. These are people who are in need of food."

Invoking a religious exemption, the Jesuit university said it would no longer recognize unions. Faculty members and labor scholars say that betrays a key principle of Catholic social teaching: workers' right to unionize.

The exhibit "The Ancestry of Pope Leo XIV: An American Story" features a chart of the pope's lineage that spans 15 generations. The exhibit also aims to shed light on the pope's ancestral ties to other countries.

"This is a time when you also have to do the right thing," said William Treanor. "You have to stand up for your values and the values of the university."

A majority of the court's six conservative judges questioned arguments that the state law does not infringe on freedom of speech and the First Amendment by engaging in viewpoint discrimination.

Catholic Health Association, Catholic Charities USA and Network warn that inaction jeopardizes the health and stability of millions of families across the U.S., especially the poor.

Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, is calling for the release of José López, a local man who was arrested by immigration officers in mid-September. "There was a kind of racial profiling here," Tyson told NCR.

A lawyer seemed to have a conflict of interest when he represented sisters who claimed the future pope covered up their abuse allegations against two priests. Now, one sister says her lawyer "didn't really want to help us."

A Pew study finds many religiously unaffiliated people, so-called "nones," still have spiritual beliefs. Views run the gamut from agnostics to avowed atheists to agnostics. A 66-year-old atheist raised Methodist says the desert is his "dirt church."

The archbishops of Chicago and Detroit echoed the prayers and condolences of fellow bishops, but also called for action to rein in gun violence in America. The bishops' conference statement fell short of its earlier strong advocacy.

Law enforcement officials identified the assailant in the shooting at Annunciation Church as Robin Westman, a 23-year-old Minneapolis resident who left behind a racist and antisemitic manifesto on social media.